Vol 3 Chapter 4: The Master Alchemist

I sighed inwardly. Alright, Hugo. Don’t screw this up. Don’t do something dumb like breaking into tears or anything. You didn’t do it when you left Fiora and you shouldn’t do it now as well.

"Well…" I released my hands from Amelie's grip, my smile turning into a melancholic one. "Our travels together these past months have been fun. I might stay around for a couple of days here, but after that, I'll continue to the north. You guys are going to the capital, right? So, I guess this is goodbye."

The trio paused. Amelie's smile vanished in an instant.

"H-hey, are you sure you don't want to join our party permanently? You and I… we got a good dynamic going on, you know. You protect me with your sword while I chant my spells."

"...Knock it off, Amelie. He got better things to do than being stuck with us mere B-ranks." Anne suddenly spoke, putting her hands on her hips with a scowl on her face. "Right, Charles? Really, drop the act. You're far stronger than you're letting on, stronger than us for sure. I really do not appreciate the condescending way you look down on us all this time."

...Oh shit, she noticed? I only had to use a bit more of my strength against those fire ants that one time. The rest of the time, I made sure to not show off too much.

And of course, I never meant any condescension by it in the slightest.

"Condescending? What in the world are you talking about, Anne?" Amelie was the first one to respond, before I could. "Charles has been the nicest boy I've ever met! How can you say that to him?"

"That's because you're blind, you noble brat," she fired back. "You like him, don't you? Don't deny it. It's all oh-so-painfully obvious."

Amelie's face immediately turned beet red. However, instead of denying it, she instead responded by, "Y-yeah! I like him! What's there not to like? He's a gentleman, he's strong, and he's not a rude, uncouth person like you are!"

"Then just leave us and go with him if you like him that badly!" Anne shouted, now actively clenching her fists.

"Fine! Charles! We'll just make our own party together! I'll go with you to the north or wherever you want to go!" she declared as she snatched my arm, pulling me close to her. Of course, as usual, this made me feel up her large boobs in the process.

"Look, Amelie, I can't take you with me," I finally spoke up. "I'm going to the Demon Continent, remember? It would be too dangerous for you there. And besides…"

Welp, here goes nothing.

"I can't reciprocate any feelings you might have for me. I already have a girl I like. In fact, this whole journey of mine is to get to her."

If I were in an anime right now, I'm pretty sure I would be able to hear the sound of glass breaking as Amelie's mouth drops wide open from the revelation.

"Y-you already… have a girl you like?" Her voice shook.

I nodded, unabashedly and proudly.

Then I noticed it—the tears pooling at the edges of her hazel eyes.

...Oh no, she's going to—

"Uwaaaaa, you jerk!"

And just like that, she ran away in tears.

"...You really are the worst."

Anne was the next to leave, giving me the most vicious glare that she had ever produced.

Anton, who had remained silent during this whole altercation, wisely so I might add, put his hand on my shoulder and smiled.

"It's fine. They'll recover in no time. Now go. And thanks for everything you've done to help us. Honestly, against those fire ants, we would've been screwed if it weren't for you. We really owe you our lives. Feels bad that it has to end like this, but those girls need to mature sooner or later."

Spoken like a true older brother. He really was always the most sensible of the group, even if he never spoke as much.

I smiled as well, returning with, "I have to be the one to thank you, for accepting me for these past months into your group. Honestly, back then, I was getting lonely traveling on my own, so I was happy that I got someone to travel with at last."

"I see," he replied. He then gave his hand, which I shook readily. "Good luck on your future travels, Charles. You know, are you sure you're not actually a hobbit? You're awfully mature for how you look. Even more mature than those two, I say. Not to mention how much you excel in combat."

I grinned. "I'm 100% human. See? No pointy ears." I grabbed my right ear after I released his hand.

"Hmm, if you say so." He still didn't quite believe me, it seemed. "Don't hesitate to say hi when you see us again on the road, alright?" He patted my shoulder again. "Oh, and introduce your girlfriend to us. I want to meet the kind of girl that had stolen the heart of an extraordinary boy like you."

"Well, I'll think about that," I replied with a proud smirk. Aah, how great it feels to be able to say that you got one to people.

On that good note, he was the last to leave.

And then, I was alone once again.

I sighed, before giving a wry smile. Guess I kinda messed that up, huh?

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I decided to go grab a meal first before I went to look after an inn. Thinking about it, I could've invited them to lunch (or brunch, I guess, since it's not quite in the middle of the day yet), but that ship has sailed long ago.

I settled on some expensive restaurant I found in the district. I was now 10 gold coins richer, so I thought to myself, why not? I want to splurge from time to time. I ended up spending quite a generous amount of silver coins in it. Didn't really regret it though, as the food was delicious, and I actually got a pair of cute waitresses serving me in the process.

Fiora's right. This outfit really makes me fit quite nicely with the upper class folks.

For these past months, I had been wearing these expensive clothes she purchased for me. The fabric wasn’t just comfortable and pleasant to the skin, but it was also durable and easy to clean up. So the promotion on how they were made for well-off adventurers weren’t a lie. Cleaning them up was easy as well. I could generate water with magic while I had some soap I purchased from the alchemy shops I visited on the road.

Too bad that soon enough, I won’t be able to wear them anymore.

And by that, I mean my growth spurt. I've hit puberty after all and thankfully, it seems I'm on track to be at least as tall as Father. So eventually, these clothes wouldn't fit anymore and I would have to buy a new one. If I have the money, that is.

But for now, I'm still Charles Pendleton, the good-looking noble adventurer.

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I decided to head to the shopping district afterwards. I needed to do some restocking on my supplies, like said soap for example, both for my own use and to wash my clothes. For the latter, if I was in town, staying at a good inn, I could get the innkeeper to wash them for me. But if I were out in the wilderness, obviously, I had to do it myself. Back in my old life, I would always use a laundromat for that purpose, so having to physically scrub the clothes for a good amount of time was certainly not preferable. But alas, there’s no spell that could make your clothes automatically wash themselves.

When I returned back to the main street however, I noticed that there was a small crowd of people in my path. Something must have happened was my first instinct. When I got closer however, I noticed that it wasn’t some horrible accident where a kid got run over by a carriage or something, but instead, it was a bunch of people gathering around someone—two persons, to be more exact. They were riding on their horses, casually and carefully shifting through the people on their path.

“Look! Lady Flameu is here!"

"Ooh, Lady Flameu!"

"Aah, my savior! Please marry me, Lady Flameu!"

I raised my eyebrows, questioning just what in the world was going on.

Going even closer, I got a closer look to the person the crowd was cheering for. She was a young woman, perhaps around her twenties. She was wearing a hooded cloak, but I could see her scarlet hair peeking out from it. And judging by the staff she slung over her shoulders, she was probably a mage of some sort. The one riding beside her on the other hand was a fully-armored knight, to the point that you couldn't see his face, thanks to his helmet. Peculiarly, his armor was pitch-black, unlike most knights who had white armor.

"Hey, who are they?" I asked the nearest person that would answer.

"Oh, you don't know?" The one that answered was a broad-shouldered man. "You must be new here. An adventurer?" I nodded. "Well, let me explain it to you. The lady there is Lady Flameu. She's the alchemist that's responsible for curing that horrible plague six months ago. It would have ruined this town if it weren't for her."

Ah, that explains the celebrity treatment.

And she's an alchemist. I guess to cure plagues, you can either be a priest or an alchemist.

"Who's the knight then?" I asked again.

"Oh, that's Sir Black Knight. No one knows much about him, other than he's a knight who serves His Majesty at the capital. Oh, I forgot to mention that Lady Flameu is a court mage, didn't I? That's why she can have him as her bodyguard at all times."

Oh wow, so they are important people after all.

Better stay out of their way then. No need to bring attention to myself by interacting with them.

I watched them leave from a distance, before going in the opposite direction, towards the shopping district.

-------

"Hey, this soap… isn't this too expensive?"

"What? I assure you, sir, that it's perfectly reasonably priced. In fact, I'm selling it to you at a bargain. It's imported all the way from the Magocracy! Surely, you've heard of it before, good Sir?"

"...Yeah. All too much even. Still, one gold is way too steep. Ten silver is the normal price."

"T-ten silver? That's too much, good sir! I'll starve if I sell it to you at that price."

"Ten silver. Take it or leave it."

"...Urgh, fine. You sure are a hard bargainer, sir."

And with that, I stood victorious in our haggling fight.

I learned about haggling a lot from Helen. And a bit from Marina as well, back in those happier days. The trick is really on how you should talk. You need to always be confident. Show that you're absolutely sure in the price you got in mind. Your facial expression is really important as well. Helen would always keep up her stern look while she bargained with the shopkeeper that would intimidate them to accept her lower price. Well, her massive boobs might have helped as well to be honest, but even without those bouncy pairs, I managed well enough on my own.

I gave the shopkeeper the ten silver pieces I promised before snagging the soap, storing it inside my trusty bag. It was my personal soap, not the one I used to wash my clothes. I still had enough of that already.

I then left the building. It was an alchemy shop, located in the shopping district. It was a fairly sized shop, clearly catered to the middle to upper class. I doubt the poor folks would be able to afford ten silver pieces for a soap. Hell, for them, baths were already a luxury. Such was the state of the not-haves in this world, unfortunately, so bad body odor could become a valid reason why the upper class wouldn’t want to associate with them.

Speaking of body odor, Amelie was very particular with that. She always whined and complained about not being able to take as many baths as she wanted. And she didn’t want a simple bath of conjuring water with magic over her naked body, but a full-on experience with warm and perfumed water.

...I’m amazed she lasted that far as an adventurer.

Anne, on the other hand, being commoner-born, was far less particular about keeping herself pretty and all that. For starters, you could see how her skin had far more blemishes on it compared to Amelie’s. And the few moments our hands touched, they were rough and full of calluses. It was a true sign on how long she had been holding a bow with her two hands.

There is a reason why mage is usually the profession of choice for adventuring nobles. Because magic doesn’t require them to train their body in the slightest, only their concentrating and memory.

Me though? I could afford to purchase some lotions for my hands here and there. Though after transitioning into using Fiora’s sword, I realized even the grip was far more pleasant to hold on to. I could swing the sword all day if I want to, and not ever get any blisters on my hands.

Whoever made it must be a master craftsman. To think that she gave me such a valuable sword…

And of course, I kept up with my hygiene. It’s not because I’m vain or anything. It’s just that 1. Marina had drilled into my head that I had to take a bath every day 2. Going without a bath for a day just felt odd and uncomfortable, which I could blame for either No.1 or the fact that I was a Japanese person in my old life.

I then decided to stroll around the district some more. Maybe I can find something nice to buy. Like books to keep me entertained or something. So I went to a couple of bookstores and stayed there for quite a while, browsing away (to the annoyance of one of the shopkeepers, unfortunately enough). I had already finished all the books I got way back then from when I was still at the Magocracy.

I ended up purchasing a couple. And, like a true book collector, I didn’t sell the books I had already finished, even though they were certainly eating up space inside my Bag of Holding.

And besides, I think it would be too embarrassing for me to be selling them, knowing how raunchy some of them gets.

Afterwards, I made my rounds around the city, looking for the inn I would use for the night. Looking at the skies, the day was soon going to be over, and it would be wise for me to find a place to stay soon.

My steps took me to an alleyway. Like I had said, this town was a small one. To pack more buildings inside, most of the roads weren't that big, and the layout itself was somewhat confusing. I think they might have actually intentionally designed their cities to be like that, in order to deter intruders in the time of war and setting up a good place to wage a guerilla war if they actually managed to occupy the city. Too bad it made the experience of walking through the city as a civilian worse as well.

Hmm, no one is around though. Maybe I did take the wrong turn.

Suddenly, I stopped. Not because I wanted to, but because I saw what looked like a person collapsed on the small road I was walking on.

What the… that's—

I rushed to the figure. Sure enough, it was indeed a person—a little girl to be exact. She had light red hair, tied into a pair of short braids. Judging by the poor state of her dress, full of patchwork and made out of coarse, uncomfortable material, she was clearly not a noble of some sort. Not to mention the bruises and calluses on her little feet. She didn’t seem to be wearing any shoes either. Don’t tell me that she has been walking bare-footed in this condition!

"Hey, are you alright?" I kneeled over and helped her get up.

Only to find that she was burning. Her temperature was so high that I nearly released her out of surprise.

Shit, this is bad!

“H-hey, wake up!” I shook her body. No dice. She wasn’t responding.

I looked around. Nobody else was there but me.

“High Fairy! Come out and heal this girl!”

With no prying eyes around, I could safely summon her without attracting unwanted attention. She appeared at once with a bright flash of light, floating near the ground in an almost fully horizontal feature as I held the little girl up in a sitting position. As I commanded, she immediately worked on healing her, gently making her drink her spring water with me helping the little girl to swallow.

To my horror, it didn’t work. The only thing she managed to do was heal the blisters on her feet.

“I-I don’t know, Master! I don’t know why it doesn’t work!” she exclaimed, all teary-eyed. “My spring water should’ve rejuvenated her!”

Don’t tell me that this is some incurable illness she got! Just from the heat, I know it’s not just an ordinary cold, but for High Fairy to be unable to heal her…

...Wait, it’s too early to give up! This town should have a church! I can ask the priest there to heal her!

After thanking her for trying, I dispelled the high fairy. She didn’t even ask for her usual headpat, knowing that she didn’t deserve it for failing at her task. I then lifted the little girl in my arms. Damn, she’s so light. This can’t be good, can it?

I ran as fast as I could, heading back towards the central district of the town where the church should be.